


Maybe A Little

by MsFangirlFace



Series: Tea & Tropes [4]
Category: The Bletchley Circle, The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26360818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsFangirlFace/pseuds/MsFangirlFace
Summary: "Millie isn’t jealous, because Millie doesn’t get jealous. She does, however, think that if Jean was going to swim in the sea (in herknickers, none the less) then it should have been with her."Millie and Jean go to the beach.
Relationships: Millie Harcourt/Jean McBrian
Series: Tea & Tropes [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1902100
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	Maybe A Little

**Author's Note:**

> Another TROPE FIC, this one is HUDDLING FOR WARMTH with bonus THE CAR BROKE DOWN AND WE'RE STUCK.

Millie isn’t jealous, because Millie doesn’t get jealous. She does, however, think that if Jean was going to swim in the sea (in her _knickers_ , none the less) then it should have been with her. She likes Hailey enough, but she feels distinctly like the young American has put in very little work for a very large reward. Millie herself, who has dedicated countless hours over more than a decade to understanding Jean - learning to tell when there’s actually a problem under that almost-constantly stern expression, waiting patiently for the little details about her life which get held back and then delivered so casually they could be missed – has never had anything like that kind of breakthrough. She isn’t jealous, it just doesn’t seem _fair_.

So they go to the beach, Millie and Jean. Millie does what she knows she needs to in order to be successful and suggests it subtly enough that Jean eventually raises it as her own idea. 

They set out in the afternoon, packing up the car with the picnic basket and numerous other supplies Jean has gathered, and Jean rolls her eyes at the fact that Millie doesn’t even have a bag, just the clothes on her back (a sundress over her polka-dot printed two-piece), her sunglasses on her head and the bottle of wine she is holding in one hand. 

They have a lovely time. Millie compliments Jean profusely on the food, like she does every time Jean cooks, because it is _always so good_ , and they clink their glasses and toast to _sunshine and good friends_. They just lie there for a little while after they’ve finished eating, Jean reading whilst Millie sunbathes, before they go in the sea. Jean strips down to her (both old-fashioned and actually old) swimsuit and, when Millie doesn’t make a fuss about the fact that she's showing some skin (she’s never quite got over the embarrassment of the time she very slightly lifted her skirt to scratch her knee on the bus in London and Millie _wolf-whistled_ ), she doesn’t protest when Millie moves to loosen her hair from its usual bun, despite the impracticality of it. They’re a contrast - Millie with her pale midriff on display whilst Jean feels practically naked now although her swimming costume covers about the same amount of her body as Millie’s now discarded dress did of hers - but they always have been, whilst also being somehow the same. They each make their own noise of surprise on feeling the temperature of the water – Millie’s a shriek, Jean’s a sharp breath in through gritted teeth. They have races, and Jean grabs Millie’s ankle under the water when she tries to cheat by starting too early. They laugh and chat and splash around until the sun goes down.

Then, it’s time to go, Millie’s fantasising about a warm bath when they get back go the apartment, and the car won’t start. Jean, having hastily dried herself off enough to put her clothes back on over her swimming things, heads off to a nearby pay phone to call Hailey for help. When she returns, with the news that the younger woman is coming but will probably be close to an hour, Millie is shivering, the thin fabric of her dress doing very little to protect her from the coolness of the night drawing in. 

There’s an exchange of looks, one that says _Why are you never prepared_ and another that replies _How was I supposed to know the car would break down_ and then Jean is shaking out the debris from her towel and covering Millie’s shoulders with it, making an effort for the drier sections to be what touches the other woman’s bare skin. Millie’s grateful but she’s still really quite cold and five minutes later when her teeth are still chattering, she finds herself pulled into a tight hug.

It’s damp and imperfect really – Jean's not exactly a comfortable temperature herself – but she feels warmer quickly and warmer still when she feels the tentative brush of Jean’s lips against her cheek and turns to meet them with her mouth. Then they’re _kissing_ , really kissing, and it’s glorious and she’s shivering for a whole different reason and maybe, just maybe, she had been a _little_ jealous.


End file.
